Welcome back to Nioh, my favorite game of 2017 (not the best one tho) and today as Nioh veteran, I will do my best to give you some relevant tips that are designed to make your life a bit easier, if you are a beginner that is. Starting with the number one: don’t get attached to the gear. As I’ve said it many times, Nioh is not a Dark Souls clone and one of the main reason to that is that it has a Diablo-like gear progression system. So, if you want to call it a clone, the more accurate name to throw would be Diablo…

Anyway, yes – a lot of things and important mechanics in Nioh are tied to your equipment. All of those mechanics are fun and cool, allowing you to be flexible with how you want to play and what-not… so it’s kinda natural for some players to get attached to what they wear after a certain period of time. You know, you find your first set, it seems so cool and gives you a fancy bonus. But, what happens 5 missions later? Is it still good? Maybe it is… but is it worth to wear it? In 99% of the cases the answer is NO.

Nioh is designed to have your loot grow with you, as you progress through the game. So, chances are – your gear will become obsolete after just an hour of playing… and by obsolete – I mean not sub-optimal. With Nioh being super cool gameplay driven masterpiece, you can obviously complete the game without using any kind of fancy armour and what-not, but my point is that – being attached to a piece of gear will likely make your life a lot harder than it is necessary. In other words, if you are yet to hit the end-game, change your gear as often as possible, disregard the rarity or 1% bonuses – none of that will likely matter if you can get something better as a reward for the next mission.

While it is true that with the use of blacksmith waifu you can soul-match your weapons and armour – effectively increasing its level – it’s kinda redundant and super expensive especially early on in the game. In similar vein don’t bother with reforgig – the payout is not worth it till you hit the end-game. What do I suggest to do with all the unnecessary gear? Well, you can sell it or break it down, but my advice is to just donate it to the shrine in exchange for some amrita. In other words, make it count. Number two: Don’t try to rush through the game. As I’ve stated earlier Nioh has Diablo-like gear progression, so some players decide to rush through the story mode to get better gear and become unstoppable. That’s not how it works… to rush through the game you have to be a veteran – you have to know the shortest route from the start to the end of the level, you have to know how to approach every boss and every enemy, you have to have perfect build and what-not…

In other words, it is very hard to rush through Nioh. So if you think that you can just speed through the story and hit the end-game without learning how to actually play the game – forget it. My advice is to accept that the items you get right now are trash tier in general scheme of things and just enjoy the game, learn the combat, master various weapons and just chill. Don’t let the fact there is some better equipment out there later on in the game ruin the experience for you right now – let it come to you naturally – the game is called ‘Nioh’ and not the ‘Farm the best chest-piece 2017’ for a good reason. Number Three: Don’t approach Nioh PvE as you would normally prefer to approach Dark Souls PvE. There are plenty of players out there that are trying to transition from Dark Souls to Nioh and they are mostly usig Dark Souls-like playstyle to progress through the game…

However, unlike Dark Souls… and I mean pretty much every Souls game – Nioh has a lot more depth to it, so approaching the combat in Nioh as you would normally approach the combat in Dark Souls is a terrible, terrible idea. Nioh allows you to strategize whatever you want and it is very natural to do so, the developer is encouraging you to spend some time studying the enemies, environment, so you can adjust your setup and pick the right strategy… so doing something that you would do in Dark Souls – like pressing R1 and rolling over and over, will likely make your Nioh PvE experience a lot harder than it needs to be.

Instead, you can look for unorthodox solutions – like using specific guardian spirits to counter a boss or packing a bow for some nasty headshots in order to prevent the boss from buffing. While some these things are also present in some of the Dark Souls titles, it is a lot more prominent in Nioh… it is A LOT more beneficial to think outside of the box and adjust your setup as opposed to relying on simple hit and run strategy to carry you through the game. In other words, if the game seems too hard and unbeatable its likely the problem with how you approach it. Don’t be afraid to adjust your setup and think outside of the box, because the game has a lot more to offer than simple hit and run action. Number Four: Utility starts are very useful. A lot of RPG players, even the experiencedoned ones, seem to have this idea that ‘support stats’ are useless… well, it is not the case when it comes to Nioh. Stats like Spirit and Magic, are actually super useful. Spirit – allows to you to unlock extra Guardian Spirit bonuses and with a very little investment you can get a pretty hefty bonus, which is super useful early on.

For example with Kato, one of the 3 starting guardian spirits – by simplying powering your Spirit stat up to 10 you get 15% extra skill damage which is a solid boost to your overall DPS early on in the game. Magic is another great stat that will not only make your life easier but will also make your combat a lot more interesting. All thanks to various buffs and debuffs you can adjust your setup according to the area or the boss that you face, spicing up your combat nicely.

It is not secret that talismans like Sloth and Weakness are game changing when it comes to PvE in Nioh. It is obviously up to you if you want to use all that fancy stuff, but my point here is that utility stats in Nioh are very useful so if you are not gonna level them make sure its because you don’t actually need it or like it and not because you think it is useless. So, to sum it up… don’t hesitate to swap the gear even if its not as rare as your current one, as long as it is of higher level – chances are it will be more useful; don’t try to rush through the game in search for the best gear, instead focus on learning the game and progress naturally; don’t be afraid to strategize because in Nioh hit and run is one of the least efficient strategies and if you need an extra help, don’t hesitate to invest some points into Spirit and Magic, because it will not only help you to progress the game it will also make it more fun.

Hope this helps. Thank you for watching and I will see you next time! .